Rick's Ruminations: Home from Turkey (and New York City)

Brenda and I have returned home from Turkey! I won't bore you with the details of our travel complications. Suffice it to say that we left our house at 10 PM on July 24 for the Denver airport, rather than early that morning as scheduled, due to a last -minute flight cancellation. After flying to Atlanta, New York, and Istanbul (including two nights in the air), and a six-hour bus ride, we finally caught up with our tour group a day late, at 6:30 PM (Turkish time--9 hours ahead of Denver) on July 26. And, not surprisingly, we continued the tradition with late flights leaving Turkey, and an even longer delay leaving New York after a four-day stay there. We finally crashed into our own bed on Monday morning, Aug. 11, at 3 AM--and Brenda had the joy of getting up later that morning to go back to work!

Aside from that, it was a wonderful trip. We bussed 2,200 miles through Turkey with 38 other tourists, saw some beautiful countryside, swam in warm waters of the Mediterranean Sea,

celebated Brenda's birthday in Turkish fashion, saw amazing ancient ruins, learned a lot about Turkish history, politics, and culture, ate a lot of kebob, took many, many photos (and bought numerous batteries for the camera!), bought lots of Turkish Delight and other souvenirs, and thoroughly enjoyed the trip. (But did I tell you that getting home to our own bed sure felt good?)

Here's a shot of our group's Turkish celebration

of the birthdays of Brenda and Drew (who share

an August 1 birthday). Doesn't Brenda look

absolutely regal? And how about Drew in that fez?

We were blessed with an absolutley wonderful tour guide, Salih, a Kurdish Turk and American citizen, who speaks excellent English, is full of knowledge and insight into Turkish history, culture, politics, and religion, took excellent care of our group, and did it all with grace and good humor. Thanks, Salih, for enhancing our trip so greatly!

As much as we enjoyed the country, after nearly two weeks in Turkey we were ready to return to the U.S.--but not quite ready to return home. Since we were flying through New York, and had never visited there before, we spend four days seeing the sights of that great and vibrant city. We relaxed in Central Park, visited Rockefeller Center (home of NBC, Radio City Music Hall, and St. Patrick's Cathedral, where we stepped inside just as a wedding was concluding), and saw the city from the Top of the Rock. We also rode the Staten Island Ferry and took a tour of the Statue of Liberty--she looked good!--and Ellis Island, where Brenda's Mom had passed through with her parents and a younger brother as an immigrant from The Netherlands in 1923. We enjoyed immensely the Broadway production of Wicked, were dazzled by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim Museum, navigated the subway system without any significant snafus, and had a chance to enjoy dinner with Brenda's niece, Megan, and her husband, Ryan.

All in all, it was a great trip (although we're ready for a rest, and not sure how soon we want to embark on a journey like this again!) We saw a lot, learned a lot and, I hope, grew a little in the process. We were reminded, once again, what an amazing world we live in and, once again, how fortunate we are to live in the U.S.A. (Oh, did I mention it was good to get home to our own bed?)

Although our New York visit was primarily for fun, the trip in